Howdy and Hey Now,
Yeah, definitely had, "
A Momentary Lapse of Reason" thinking 20's would work.
Tonight on the way home from Denver to Eagle it was cold, low 20's to low teens. Roads were wet, some heavy snow in places. I used 130 rated miles for a 70 mile drive.
So when the roads are snowy and it's cold, I use the 2:1 rule too, just to be safe.
I let a little air out of the tires, car felt pretty good.
Re: the slipping. The car slips, but it corrects itself. Now I'm used to it. I'm sure I'll get better traction once I throw the 18" Hakka's on. Hopefully I'll get the wheels soon. Seems like T Sportline is the way to go.
There's a thread about customers having to wait for wheels. Hey I'm just grateful T Sportline is there.
Wipers seem to work better now with the latest update. Still not great, but way better.
Hey man. I'm driving a Tesla. Helping Mother Earth. It's super cool. I'm not going to beach or moan.
Ski rack will be here Thursday. Will post pics once it's mounted.
Peace and love!
I've been experimenting with my AWD non-P in the snow, and the slipping before the traction control kicks in is somewhat different from pretty much every other car that I've driven with traction control, and it's rather disconcerting. In standard mode the Model 3 is definitely allowing quite a bit of slippage before the traction control engages, then when it does engage, it does so rather abruptly, and kind of jerks the car back. It seems to over correct a bit, so that if you stay in the throttle, the rear of the car will wag in the opposite direction until the traction control compensates for it. It feels like the proverbial tank slapper oversteer, except it never gets that far out of shape, and you can actually keep the throttle floored while the car claws up the hill very rapidly, although it's moving around on the road far more than I would like. Also, I instinctively applied some opposite lock the first few times this happened, but that only makes things worse when the traction control does kick in. You're better off just steering where you're trying to go, and waiting for the car to figure it out. Very uninstinctive for those of us who are used to driving cars without traction control systems.
Standard regen seems to have a similar problem. When it's operating at full power, it's like a pretty solid braking effort, and can easily break the tires loose on snow and ice. Again, the traction control system seems to be rather slow to engage, and when it does, it does so aggressively and kind of jerks the car around. It definitely feels hazardous, whether it is or not.
I've also experimented with Chill mode and Low regen, and these two options ameliorate the above effects substantially. Without the instant torque hit to the tires on acceleration, they don't break loose so easily and quickly, and it seems the traction control system is either better able to keep up since everything is happening slower, or perhaps it's just programmed to intervene more quickly when Chill mode is engaged. The result is much smoother response in the car, and a far less disconcerting driving experience. I still don't think that Tesla's traction control system works as well as some other systems out there, but it is in the ballpark, and some appropriate tweaking could probably make it among the best.
Tesla should probably emphasize Chill and Low regen more for low traction situations. Also, I'd love to have more modes available on the traction control. Even on the non-P cars like mine, I think a track mode would be nice to have in some situations, call the current mode a "sport" mode, add another mode that engages more quickly as the "standard" mode, and continue the chill mode for when things are really slippery. I agree with you that the default behavior of Tesla's traction control system without changing anything in slippery conditions is rather poor and should be changed primarily for drivers who aren't very familiar with the car. That said, I don't really see it as much of an issue to engage chill mode and low regen before heading out when conditions are likely to be slippery.
Regarding tires and wheels, I think you'll notice a distinct difference with the Hakka R3s and 18" wheels, with the vast majority of the difference being due to the tires rather than the wheel size, but it will be more of an incremental difference than a night and day difference like all season tires versus winter tires. In my experience if a good dedicated winter tire like the R3s, Blizzaks, or Xices are a 10 in snow and ice, and a good all season tire is a 5, then a performance winter tire like the PA4s or the Sottozeros are an 8 or 9. I actually think you'll notice a greater difference by simply engaging Chill and Low regen modes on the car.